That line from "What's My Name?" that goes;

"U never would've drank my coffee,
If I had never served U cream".

It's probably something very obvious but
since English is not my first language I
don't know what kind of saying it might be.

Is it about the record company being ok with
his more experimental and perhaps even his
roots music just because he gave them a lot
of poppy "white" chart songs to go with it??

Interesting interpretation, but not quite there!

The lyric is "You slap my face, But I gotta say it, You never woulda drank my coffee, If I hadn't ever served you cream"

He's actually talking to all of his critics. He's responding to the fact (given when the song was recorded) that people were saying he was no longer relevant and there have always been stories about how eccentric he is. So, people may slap his face now and he also appreciates that he may be a bit much for some people, so he qualifys this by saying "You never woulda drank my coffee, If I hadn't ever served you cream", meaning that we would have never swallowed any of his brilliance/bullshit if what he put out wasn't of the highest quality, the "cream".

I hope that helps - I love this tune - the drums and bass are so bold!
[This message was edited Tue Mar 18 1:31:22 PST 2003 by Mindflux]
[This message was edited Tue Mar 18 1:32:01 PST 2003 by Mindflux]

Mindflux said:

hmm..

i thot it was sexual. i guess i always think his stuff is sexual, somehow. i must be some kinda freudian.

Sly - would you care to explain what "hmm.." means? Comtemplation, doubt, disagreement, what?

MightBQueen - even in the liner notes, Prince explains that this song was written for "all the lollipops" now using the name "Prince" - so, this song is a bit of a (short) rally cry for himself! Its a play on the fact that he changed his name and also expresses his dis-illusionment of the current status of the music business and critics.

IstenSzek said:

Yes, this is exactly what it means to me

All issues are not Black and White, but this one, to me, says that if Prince hadn't gone "pop" with the massive success of Purple Rain, many wouldn't have given him the time of day. In essence, what Mindflux says partially adds to this argument as well.

To a degree, it's like what Malcolm X said about coffee....I don't remember the quote though, darn it


Tina (~!~)
[This message was edited Tue Mar 18 5:59:15 PST 2003 by NettieSmiles]

I agree with some of the above but would add that I've always taken that particular line to refer to the use of sex in titilating a mass audience and then challenging that audience with the hard questions and bitter truth of some of his religious messages.

Ie you never would have been open to be challenged if I hadn't seduced you in, you'd never have drunk the bitter coffee without the sweet cream.

I've always visualised this audience Prince is talking to in this song as a woman, and the "you'd slap my face" bit refers to the reaction of a purient prude in denial that they were really hooked by the sex and dirtiness of Prince, kind of a "how dare you say that about me" reaction because he'd hit a raw nerve.

I've never thought of that lyric sexually. Racially & musically, YES...

This all makes very interesting reading and has certainly made me re-think who the lyric is aimed at!

But, that is harder to decipher than first thought. Prince says he can't play his bass anymore, just reminds him of "the way it used to be" - the way what used to be? Could it be the status of the music industry (eg harking back to the days of James Brown, who Prince much espoused and said "he could and did release an album every six months"), or is it how Warner Brothers used to be when Mo Austin was there, or is it how the critics used to view him, when he could do no wrong? With so many options, it is difficult to say for sure!

However, you still have to bear in mind Prince's liner note - this suggests that the song is actually Prince saying, "I'm Prince, been there, done that and it ain't all it's cracked up to be! Newcomers should check their motivation"

I agree with what Mindflux has said but if you are going to
take all of the lyrics, than the line

"take this bass, I can't play it,
it only makes me wish for the way it used to be..."

Would hint more at the roots/funk vs poppy commercial songs

Since Prince himself called the o(+> album too commercial
and poppy last year. Ok, not his exact words, but he did
compare it to "TRC" and asked you to say "Which is the
better album".

From what we are lead to believe, one of the major gripes
Prince had with his company was over how and when and WHICH
music he could release. I don't think it was only the fight
over the mastertapes.

Fact is that with Diamonds&Pearls and o(+> he released two
of the most commercial albums ever. And funny enough those
two albums are amongst his weaker ones. They have good tunes
but overall they have to much poppy commercial fluff on m.

The "Only makes me wish for the way it used to be" might
thus hint at Prince wanting to go back to a more true funk
or jazzy sound [i'll do anything soundtrack, the 20 mins
miles davis thing] but felt restricted from doing so by his
new contract and people at warners who were now pressuring
and interfering more than before, with their $100 mil at
stake.

So perhaps it was more hinted at the recordcompany than at
the critics. People at the recordcompany also kept calling
him Prince.

I think it's a bit of both. Cleverly put into lyrics, as
always, so that there is a lot of food for thought in
just a simple few lines.
[This message was edited Tue Mar 18 10:00:31 PST 2003 by IstenSzek]

The way that I interpret this lyric is as a direct statement to both his critics and fans. He is saying that You never would have drank my coffee (coffee being a pretty strong drink that isn't to everyone's taste) if he hadn't put some cream in it (cream being more popular and making things taste sweeter.)

The way I see it is that Prince is saying that we (fans & critics) wouldn't have appreciated his "darker" (like coffee) stuff on his albums (such as Starfish and Coffee) if he hadn't sweetened them with tracks like Cream. It's as if he is acknowledging the fact that his really good stuff is littered between the commercial filler that was required in order to sell albums.

MightBQueen said:

Don't feel bad, I did too. But when you look back at Prince's track record, how could we not.

In I Wish U Heaven (Extended), he goes "Take my coffee...don't u touch my cream..."

It's also about putting him in any particular box IMO. Had he stayed straight up R&B (which is probably what people expected of him @ first), he never would have been accepted & respected in the Rock world & vice versa. That pertains to audiences, record co. execs, critics, racial groups, errrybody...

CalhounSq said:

Yup!

Tina (~!~)

Good thread!

Prince IS the coffee...what comes out of him, IS the cream...no pun ntended.

it's a metaphor ppl...

black coffee, black prince
cream, the, get on top, acceptable part of the white pop music world

but it can b purely sexual as well...

Mindflux said:

thanks for the info - i hadn't seen the liner notes. and anyway, i often seem to see things in terms of double-entendres & metaphors.

IstenSzek said:

IstenSzek, your English is better than many people whose first language is English. Give yourself some props!

Mindflux said:

contemplation

teller said:

I agree.